Car-door ventilator



G. F. ZAUN.

CARDOOR VENTILATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR.25. 1920.

PatentedSept. 21,1920.

ENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. ZAUN, OF SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA.

GAR-DOOR VENTILATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented se t. 2111920.

Application filedMarch 25, 1920; Serial No'. 368,767.

- 1 o aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. ZAUN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at San 1 Bernardino, in the county of San Bernardino and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in. Car-Door Ventilators, of which the following; is a specification.

This invention" relates to improvements in cardoor ventilators, and has for an object the provision of a ventilator that may be placedbetween a sliding doorof a box car and the'door jamb and which will allow air to enter the interior of the car and ventilate same.-

At the present time, particularly in. re; frigerating cars and cars that carry perishable products, it' isnecessary that some means be provided to allow the air to.cir culate within the car, as stagnant air causes a rapid decay of fruit, vegetables, etc... In

order to allow for this ventilation, ordinarily the box car door is opened slightly and cleats are nailed across the door jamb and the door, after which a Government inspector places a thin seal upon one of the'strips of the door showing that the car has been inspected. Thieves or tramps desiring to steal the contents of the'car will not disturb the Government seal, but will break the cleats or smash in the side of the door in order to ain access to the material stored therein. Thousands of dollars are-lost annually by such acts and in order to'overcome and reduce same and render access to the car a diflicult matter, I have accordingly vprovided a ventilating means havinga suitable frame covered with a foraminous material or having transverse louvers thereon, which frame is adapted to swing into position between'the door and the doorjamb. Means are likewise provided for holdingv the ventilating member either in a position coacting with the door andoloor jamb, or in an inoperative position, which position would be when the ventilating member. is swung back against the side of the box car.

The invention has for, further objects the provision of a device of the characterstated, which will be superior in point of relative simplicity and inexpensiveness of construction, taken in connection with positiveness and convenience in operation, reliability. and general efliciency and serviceability, as well as neatness in appearance. A. further object is to provide a ventilating means which may be attached to a box can and which. will! require any material changes in the box can Y construction. V p With the-above and other objects inview, the invention consists in the noveL andiusee ful provision, formation, combination, assoa ciation and interrelation:- and features, all as hereinafter described shown in the drawing, and finally pointed out in claims.

In the drawing: 1 Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation ofa box carrwith a ventilating member in posi-. tion between the car door and the door amb;

of parts, members I Fig. 2.isa fragmentary elevationshowingr. 5

a ventilating member swung toand againstone side of the car, said ventilating memberbeing inoperative;

Fig. 3' is across sectional View of the ven tilating member, taken onthe line w 'w Fig. 2', and looking in the. direction of the; appended arrows; I p 7 Fig. 4 is a crosssectionalview of certain elements of the ventilating member taken on the line w m,' Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryrcross' sectional. view showing certain details of construction, and taken on the-line aP-ac, Fig. 1

Fig. 6 is-a' perspective view of a haspatztachment used in practising the invention;

Fig; 7 is a fragmentaryinterior view of a box car showingcert'ainmeansfor-hold ing; the'ventilating member in position'relative to the door anddoor jamb; and,

Fig. 8 is; a fragmentary elevation: offa modification of the ventilating,member.-

Corresponding'partsin all the figuresare designated the same a reference characters.

Referring. particularly to the drawing, A designates car, all of which elements are used" in practising one embodiment ofthe invention.

The box car A: which is of standard-construction includes a door. I mounted. upon rollers 2, which rollers engage arail 3 attached to the box car A. The doorl is adapted to travel back'and forth in order.

a box car, 13,; a ventilating member, and G means for maintaining the vventllating member in position: upon thev J-shaped retainingmeans between the door jamb and the door,

saddles 25 project from and are,

practicable in that more difficulty and 12 of a length corresponding to the length of the door jamb or stop 8, or nearly so; that is, of sufiicient length so that a person could not gain access to the interior of the car by crawling over the top of the ventilating member. a The side members 11 and 12 are provided with transverselouvers 13, or the ventilating member may be covered with a foraminous material 14, although it has been found that the louvers are more would be experienced in cutting away any portion of the ventilating member in order to gain access to the interior of the car A. In order to maintain the ventilating member B in position upon the box car A, ears 15 are joined to the ventilating member as at 16 and 17. Each ear is provided with atransverse perforation 18 whioh accommodates a 19 having one leg through .a portion of the side of the'car A, as shown at 21, and held in. position by means of a nut 22, which nut is located on the interior surface of the car. The opposite end of the member 19 is returned as at 23 and passed through the perforation 18 in the ear 15 and into a portion of the door'jamb 8 as at 24,. This particular construction is brought out in detail in Fig. ,5, and it will be observed that the return portion 23 does not pass entirely through the door jamb 8. The ventilating memberB may be swung backwardly or forwardly as the ear 15 moves upon the member 19, the combination of the ear 15 and the member 19 forming a hinge. This particular construction only requires that a-holebe bored through the sides of the box car adjacent the door portions. Thus any standard form of box car may be used without the necessity of any material changes in its construction when utilizing this ventilating member. I

In order to insure that the ventilating member B may at all times be safely secured clamps,

as 20 passing transversely yokes or fastened to the side member 12.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the member 25 is bifurcated so as to engage a portion of the door '1, as shown at 26.

Obviously would not be long enough to engage the door 1 and the door jamb 8 and the hasp 5 shown in Fig. 2 both still hold the ventilating member B in position between the door and door jamb. In order to provide a secure locking means when the the door 1 in close relation to the, sidemember 12 of the ventilating member B.

- If it is not desired to use the ventilating member B, same may be swung out'of position against a side of the car door A, as shown in Fig. 2. In order to securely lock the ventilating member B against'the side of the car A an additional hasp 5, is mounted upon the door jamb 8, andas the member 27 may be disconnectedly joined to the hasps, this member is again utilized as shown in Fig. 2 to hold the ventilating member B against the side of the car A. A staple'7 is passed through a portion of the side of the car A as at 33 so that the slotted portion of the hasp extension27 may engage same. V

Ofttimes a railroad company would not desire to bore a hole through the side of the box car A in orderto accommodate the member 19. Inorder to still utilize the ventilatingmember B, I have accordingly probox car in the.

To provide a locking means for holding the hasp or the hasp extension in a fixed relation to the staple 7, a passes a thin strip of material through the eye of said staple. This strip is ordinarily made of some thin break the strip, a tramp or thief probably would never in any way tamper with the hasp or hasp extension in order to gainaccess to the interior of the box car A. Fur- Government oilicial flexible material, and in asmuch as it IS a penitentlary offensewto.

vention to varyingiconditions and require-1.1

- ments of use and-service, without, departing from the true spirit of the invention,

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Improvements in box cars having a slidable door, of a ventilating member adjustably mounted on the car and adapted to be swung into position to be engaged by one edge of the door, and means for locking the door and maintaining the ventilating member in operative position; said box car being provided with a door. jamb, and the ventilating member being received between the door and door jamb; locking means comprising a pivoted hasp adapted to extend between the car and door and over the ventilating member, and means for holding the hasp so extended.

2. Improvements in box cars having a' slidable door, of a ventilating member adjustably mounted on the car and adapted to be swung into position to be engaged by one edge of the door, and means for locking the door and maintaining the ventilating member in operative position; said box car being provided with a door jamb, and the ventilating member being received between the door and door jamb; said locking means comprising a pivoted hasp, an extension hasp cooperating with said first named hasp.

3. Improvements in box cars having a slidable door, of a ventilating member adjustably mounted on the car and adapted to be swung into position to be engaged by one edge of the door, and means for locking the door and maintaining the ventilating member in operative position; said box car being provided with a door jamb, and the ventilating member being received between the door and door jamb; said locking means" comprising a pivoted hasp adapted to engage the car and door, and catch means for the hasp; means for cooperating with said pivoted hasp whereby when the ventilating member is in position between the door and j amb, the pivoted hasp may be'extended in length so as to pass over the ventilating member.

4. Improvements in box cars having a slidable door, of a ventilating member adjustably mounted on the car and adapted to be swung into position to be engaged by one edge of the door, and means for locking the door and maintaining the ventilating member in operative position; said box car being provided with a door jamb, and the ventilating member being received between the door and door jamb; said locking means comprising a pivoted hasp, an extension hasp cooperating with said first named hasp, said pivoted hasp and said extension hasp being adapted to extend between the car and door and over the ventilating member,

and means for securing the pivoted hasp and extension hasp; said securing means comprising a member having an eye adapted to receive the locking means.

,5. The combination with a box car having a slidable. door and stop for the door,' of a; ventilating member mounted to swing into,

orout of position between the door and stop, and means for maintaining the ventilating member either in the latter position or against the side of the car.

6. Improvements in box cars having a slidable door, of a ventilating member adjustably mounted on the car and adapted to be swung into position to be engaged by one,

edge of the door, and means for locking the door and maintaining the ventilating member in operative position; said box car being provided with a door jamb, and the ventilating member being received between the door and door j amb; said locking means comprising a pivoted hasp adapted to engage the car and door, and catch means for the hasp; means for cooperating with said pivoted hasp whereby when the ventilating member is in position between the door and jamb, the pivoted hasp may be extended in length so as to pass over the ventilating member; said last named means comprising an extension hasp'slotted for a portion near one end while the opposite end has an angularly disposed extremity in the form of a T head, which T head engages a slot in said first named hasp. v

7 Improvements inbox cars having a slidable door and stop for the door, of a ventilating member mounted to swing into position between the door and stop, and means for maintaining the ventilating member in the latter position; said ventilating member comprising a frame member provided with 'louvers; said means for maintaining the ventilating member in position comprising clamps outwardly depending from an edge of said ventilating frame for engaging said door.

8. Improvements in box cars having a slidable door and stop for the door, of a ventilating member mounted to swing into position between the door and stop, and means for maintaining the ventilating member in the latter position; said ventilating member comprising a frame provided with louvers; said means for maintaining the ventilating member in position comprising clamps outwardly depending from an edge of said ventilating frame for engaging said door, and hinge means joining the door stop and ventilating member whereby same may be swung into or out of position between the door and stop.

9. Improvements in box cars having a slidable door, of a ventilating member adjustablymounted on the car and adapted to swing into position to be engaged by one edge of the door, or to be swung into an inoperative positionagainst a side wall of the car; means for locking the door and maintaining the ventilating member in an operative positionorin an inoperativeposition;

said box car being provided with a door jamb and the ventilating member when in 

